Preserved CDA china clay wagons make their Bodmin debut

THE EIGHT CDA china clay hoppers preserved in a joint project between the National Wagon Preservation Group and the Bodmin & Wenford Railway undertook their first testing and crew training runs along the heritage line on March 16, seven months after the wagons were withdrawn from service in Cornwall by DB Cargo.

The wagons – 375050/061/063/067/ 090/091 and 375113/117 – were delivered by road to Bodmin in December, having all been in service with DB Cargo until the freight operator ceased using the CDA wagon fleet on August 11 last year. The test trip along the BWR on March 16 was the first time the wagons were operated together since entering preservation. The BWR is home to 37142 – currently undergoing an overhaul – which was the first Class 37 to be based at St Blazey depot for the successful trials that heralded the way for Class 37s to become the main form of traction to haul china clay trains when the CDAS were introduced into traffic. However, the wagons are also suitable for operation behind 47306 and 50042 Triumph, which are also preserved at Bodmin. The railway has previously operated footplate experience courses using its diesel fleet on a short rake of preserved UCV ‘Clayhood’ wagons based on the BWR, with the CDAS being the next generation of wagons to convey china clay in and around Devon and Cornwall. The CDA fleet was built between 1987 and 1989 by British Rail Engineering Ltd and RFS Industries, with a total of 125 wagons built, while a further 13 existing MGR wagons were converted into CDAS.

The wagons were constructed to a similar design as British Rail’s HAA hopper wagons, but specifically for the carriage of china clay in the south west, replacing the wooden UCV wagons which were considered to be life-expired. The CDAS featured a rolling roof to protect the clay they were transporting and were a common sight in and around Cornwall throughout their working lives until the fleet was taken out of service by DB Cargo last summer. Those CDA wagons not secured for preservation have since all been scrapped.

Rich Bartlett On a rather wet and overcast March 16, Railfreight Distribution-liveried 47306 The Sapper arrives at Bodmin General from Boscarne Junction with a test run of the eight recently-preserved CDA china clay wagons. The wagons were secured for the railway in a joint project with the National Wagon Preservation Group.